Japan Extends Her Claims
Japan, having taken full advantage of Britain's preoccupa- tion with the war to press her demands concerning supplies to China via the Burma Road and Hong-kong, is now stating her larger demands in grandiose terms. The broadcast by Mr. Arita, the Foreign Minister, extended Japan's claims for a "New Order" in China to a "New Order" in East Asia. To speak of these claims as a Monroe Doctrine for the Far East is a misnomer, since the United States never arrogated to herself the rights which Japan now asserts. Mr. Arita no longer contents himself with the status quo and the maintenance of Japanese military and economic interests. He spoke of the uniting of all the region of East Asia and the South Seas in a single sphere of peoples culturally, racially, and economically related, with Japan as its centre and stabilising force. The suggestion was that Japan is disinterested in European and American affairs, and expects Europeans and Americans to be disinterested in East Asiatic affairs. The doctrine is a vague one, but the warning is clear—Japan will resent any attempt to dispose of territory in East Asia or the South Seas, whether hitherto Dutch or French, and demands a free hand in China. Neither Great Britain nor the United States could admit any such claim for a moment, and it is well understood at Wash- ington that the chief resistance to it at the moment must come from America.
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